Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has reminded President Bola Tinubu of his campaign pledge to deliver constant electricity within four years or forfeit re-election.
Obi recalled Tinubu’s statement of December 22, 2022, where he declared: “If I don’t give you constant electricity in the next four years, don’t vote for me for a second term.”
The former Anambra governor noted that despite billions of dollars spent on the power sector, Nigeria continues to suffer repeated national grid collapses and worsening outages. He argued that under the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration, power failures have become more frequent than in any previous government.
Comparing Nigeria’s situation with other developing nations, Obi said countries like Vietnam, Egypt, Indonesia, and Bangladesh have expanded their electricity generation by tens of thousands of megawatts, boosting their economies, while Nigeria has inched from 4,500MW to 5,000MW over the years.
He stressed that Nigeria’s economy, currently valued at about $200 billion, could grow by up to 50% if the country achieved a minimum of 10,000MW of power generation. Obi criticised the government for prioritising projects such as coastal roads over electricity investment, warning that such choices are contributing to factory closures, job losses, and economic decline.
He urged Tinubu to make power generation and distribution a top priority to revive small and medium enterprises, create employment, and drive economic growth.
